Spiders, far away and at home

Jumping spiders are, I think, generally agreed to be the cutest spider. What makes an animal cute? Especially this representative of one of the most-feared animal groups, the spider? It’s fuzzy, like a teddy bear. It has big eyes, like a baby fox. It holds its pedipalps, those little things that stick out on either side of the mouth and look like legs but aren’t, so politely, pointing down, like it’s trying to avoid upsetting you. It has a big cuddly abdomen and the fuzz makes its legs look less leggy, so it resembles, in shape if not in shininess, a beetle, politely going about its business, no creepy long legs here, taking up as little space as possible. Like it knows what people think about spiders, and it’s hoping we’ll understand that it’s not one of those spiders, it’s a nice spider. Or maybe it’s more generous, trying to be an ambassador for all spiders – we’re not bad! Sure, some of my cousins have venom that can kill, but they don’t want to kill you. Spiders are a loving…